Product Description:SISTER STREET FIGHTER: (Onna Hissatsu-ken) Martial arts
expert Kaoru Lee (Karen Lee in the dubbed version) is
the sister of a missing undercover cop who was trying to
bring down a brutal drug lord. Pressed into service by
the cops, Tina travels to Hong Kong to find her brother,
but things take a terrible turn and she is left with the
task of finding her brother and taking down a huge drug
lord on her own! Starring Etsuko Shihomi, Sonny Chiba,
Emi Hayakawa, Harry Kondo, Kenji Ohba. 86
minutes/1974/NR/Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) In
Japanese with English subtitles & English dubbed
version.

SISTER STREET FIGHTER: HANGING BY A THREAD: (Onna
Hissatsu-ken: Kiki Ippatsu) The daughter of a powerful
man, Birei, disappears and Kaoru is sent to Tokyo to
investigate. She soon discovers that Birei was kidnapped
in a gangster's diamond smuggling ring that is very
close to home. Soon she is surrounded by the gangster's
army of martial arts experts who will stop at nothing to
stop her! Starring Etsuko Shihomi, Hideo Shimada 85
minutes/1974/NR/Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) In
Japanese with English subtitles.

The Film:

Well, you probably have some
idea what you are in for
here - a gal with deft
karate skills (kung fu?)
shows her stuff against some
evil baddies usually in the
form of ugly, grinning crime
bosses or their equally
lowlife henchman. The plot
circles around her attempts to
rescue her brother from drug
dealers in this; the inaugural
entry of the series.
Joining her is one of the
genre's iconic figures; Mr. Sonny
Chiba.
Actually, the better film is
number II (not just because
of the nudity... but it
helps) as the vicious
evil-doers, each with
unique peculiarities and martial
arts specialties, again face
our little gal with her
spinning kicks and
expressive eyes. Pretty standard
Kung Fu flicks but even in
that it has some appeal.
Exploitive at time? - sure -
but in an innocent sort of
way.
In another life I could
easily get right into this
stuff - it's bad but someone
forgot to tell the cast who
never let up with the
grimaces or roundhouse kicks... which ya
gotta love.

Gary Tooze

The Video:
NOTE:The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.

As this appears to be BCI/Eclipse's
first kick at the can in 1080 - we decided to give it (and their The
Night of the Werewolf/Vengeance of the Zombies
Blu-ray
discs a
spin to see how they stack up). I'm afraid this exploration isn't very encouraging.
Both films are on one
single-layered BRD (25 Gig) and interlaced (1080i) and although I'm quite positive the image
quality improves upon their SD releases (I admit to not having seen) - the
print has some dirt and marks in which some form of cleaning would have
drastically benefited the transfer. Visuals are generally softish and waxy. Digital noise is still very
prevalent throughout both films - as are compression artifacts. The only difference I could
ascertain between the two film transfers was that the second seems to have
somewhat brighter colors (possibly a more intact source). There is an
inexplicable greenish/blue line at the bottom of the frame edge. So, neither escalate to the heights of the new format
and fans who
are bent on venturing beyond their old SD editions - just beware that this
is probably not a head-spinning improvement - although both should be
visually marginally superior to some degree. With the lights down - it can be
quite fun ride as the heroine (Etsuko Shihomi) has an appealing onscreen presence.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Audio:
No lossless but there is a fairly consistent Japanese 5.1 track with some minor
separation and an original, very flat, mono offering. The (embellished)
5.1 has none of the benefits of a modern track but if that was the best
they could offer - it will have to be acceptable. This is obviously not
a film where audio plays the defining roll (being mono original) and it
is standard quality at best. There are plenty of bone-cracking effects
and they seem supported acceptably, if not remarkably. There is a humorous English DUB that could
add some further fun to a showing - it depends on how much of a purist
about the genre that you are. It is supported by often précised English subtitles in a reasonably visible
white font (see sample
above).

I should note that Menus are not available on the fly
(no 'Pop-up" menu) as they are with most every other
Blu-ray discs - but once you make an option chnage you can
'resume film'.

Extras:
There are none - save some trailers - which are an amusement in their own
right.

Menus

BOTTOM LINE:

Since our initial review it appears as though BCI/Eclipse have 'gone
under' and while we would have liked to encourage them in releasing
films, exactly of this nature, being put to HD - this is really limited
in terms of what the new format can offer. I enjoyed both Street
Sister films for their campy, genre-specific, charm but I would have
hoped the a/v quality would have been superior to what was offered.
While this is better than SD-DVD, and it is cool to have them available
on one disc for a 'double feature' night presentation, the digital
production leaves a lot to be desired. It seems out-of-print at present
and I doubt anyone else will be putting these two films to 'Blu' anytime
soon.

Gary Tooze

About the Reviewer:
Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film
since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was
around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my
horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out
new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500
DVDs and have reviewed over 3500 myself. I appreciate my
discussion Listserv for furthering my film
education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver.
Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our
Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction. So be
it, but film will always be my first love and I list my
favorites on the old YMdb site now accessible
HERE.